Failure to Yield (to Massachusetts State Trooper)

[fishfood]

Massachusetts

I received a $150 failure to yield ticket from a Massachusetts State Trooper and I requested a hearing. I went to the courthouse and met with the court magistrate and an officer (he was not the officer who gave me the ticket and I don't remember if he was a state trooper). He found me responsible so I paid $50 in order to request a hearing before a judge. My hearing is in just over a month.

I felt as though I had plenty of time to continue driving through the yield sign, but the trooper said that I cut him off. I do not know if he had to put on his brakes, but I do know he seemed to accelerate right up behind me. It was dark out with no street lights and I was very nervous having a car come up so close to me (before I knew it was the police). I was coming off the highway using cruise control-- slowing down. The trooper agreed that I was not speeding.

One problem is that I do have a prior violation where I took a left turn on a "no left turn 7am- 9am" about a year ago. The officer brought this violation up at the meeting. He said "well you have a problem with signs then." I told him that I do not.

Do you think I have a chance in court or should I just pay the rest of the $150, if that is even possible now? I am happy to answer questions.

Thank you.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[HighwayMan]

Seems like you failed to yield at a yield sign to me.

Problem with alot of people is that they treat yield signs as if they don't mean anything.

It won't cost you anything except time to go to trial, but it seems doubtful that you would win, just based on the statements you've made about the situation.

Where was the trooper in relation to you as you approached the yield sign?

[fishfood]

Thank you for your response. Aside from the prior offense, I do not ignore signs. I am a very safe driver.

The officer was in my sight when I turned my head as far as it would go. I am not sure how far away he was.

You said that it would not cost me anything to go to court, but I have already paid $50 for the hearing and the ticket was $150, so if I lose I will be out $200 total. I am not sure if I can pay the "balance" of $100 and just be done with it without going to court (and save $50). I am unsure of my chances of winning.

[HighwayMan]

Originally Posted by fishfood

Thank you for your response. Aside from the prior offense, I do not ignore signs. I am a very safe driver.

The officer was in my sight when I turned my head as far as it would go. I am not sure how far away he was.

You said that it would not cost me anything to go to court, but I have already paid $50 for the hearing and the ticket was $150, so if I lose I will be out $200 total. I am not sure if I can pay the "balance" of $100 and just be done with it without going to court (and save $50). I am unsure of my chances of winning.

I misunderstood - I thought the $50 was a bond of sorts to assure your appearance for trial.

Don't take offense, but EVERYONE says that they are a safe driver and do not ignore signs. Police officers and judges don't lend any credence to statements like that.

If you saw the trooper but can't say how far away he was from you then maybe you weren't paying as much attention as you should have been. Police officers are professional observers. I pride myself in making detailed observations and taking good notes after a summons is issued. You might want to consider that the trooper will present a much stronger case than yours. From the sound of it you will not provide any significant evidence to counter the charge, so your chances of winning are doubtful.

[HighwayMan]

By the way, I go to court on cases every week where the defendant has nothing more to say than "I didn't do it". I guess they just want a chance to tell a judge their story and vent, but they completely waste their time.

[davew128]

Originally Posted by fishfood

One problem is that I do have a prior violation where I took a left turn on a "no left turn 7am- 9am" about a year ago. The officer brought this violation up at the meeting. He said "well you have a problem with signs then." I told him that I do not.

Your response should have been, "you have a problem with respect", as the prior violation is irrelevant to the issue at hand, particularly since he wasn't the citing officer in the first place.

[davew128]

Originally Posted by HighwayMan

I misunderstood - I thought the $50 was a bond of sorts to assure your appearance for trial.

Driving offenses in Massachusetts are civil offenses. There is no bail. If OP fails to show in court, he loses by default, but unless there was a rock solid case, IMO its not worth pursuing anyway because in MA, the place to win is at a magistrate's hearing not at an appeal to a judge.

[fishfood]

Thank you for the responses.

Since I already paid $50 for the right to appear before a judge, I will be going to court soon.

Is it true that my prior offense (no left turn) from roughly two years ago has nothing to do with this case? And if it is brought up, can I say that I am only in court for the yield offense?

It isn't that I don't remember how far away the trooper was-- I can picture it but I do not know the measure of the distance. I am going to try and figure it out with my car odometer.

I did take a photo of the view from the ramp @ the yield sign. Do you think that will help?

Is it possible that the officer won't show in court, and if not, does the case get thrown out?

Thank you. I welcome all advice/feedback.

[I_Got_Banned]

Originally Posted by fishfood

It isn't that I don't remember how far away the trooper was-- I can picture it but I do not know the measure of the distance. I am going to try and figure it out with my car odometer.

Its not only a matter of how far he was, but also how fast he was going. Meaning you should have slowed down enough, to allow yourself enough time to look to your left, see if any vehicles are approching and how fast they are going so that you can decide whether you should proceed through (in a way without interfering with the traffic flow) or whether you should wait.

[fishfood]

Thank you for your response, I_Got_Banned.

I did do just as you explained. I slowed down and looked to my left to see if I could proceed through the yield sign. I did feel there was ample time to proceed. You mentioned about not causing any interference with the traffic flow, and since I was exiting off of a major highway I also considered the possible traffic (potentially at high speeds) behind me.

I was using cruise control on the highway so when I entered the exit ramp I decelerated using this device.

This took place at night which could help/hurt my case, I'm not sure.

[HighwayMan]

I can't see a picture helping in this case unless you are going to argue that the sign is not clearly posted.

[fishfood]

The photo would be from my perspective coming off the exit ramp. It would help indicate how far the officer was from me at the time. I could even present a diagram of the scene.

[HighwayMan]

I still can't see how the photo would help, especially if you can't say how far the officer was from you.

[fishfood]

I still need to measure the distance.

[I_Got_Banned]

[quote=fishfood;2353473]I slowed down and looked to my left to see if I could proceed through the yield sign. I did feel there was ample time to proceed. /QUOTE]
Again, looking only long enough to see how far oncoming traffic is, is not sufficient... You're supposed to look to see where the other car is, try to guage its speed so as to get and estimate as to whether you can take the right-of-way without interfering with oncoming traffic.

Originally Posted by fishfood

You mentioned about not causing any interference with the traffic flow, and since I was exiting off of a major highway I also considered the possible traffic (potentially at high speeds) behind me.

That's a given... But what is also a given, is that when you approach a yield sign, you, as well as traffic behind you should anticipate probably having to stop depending on cross traffic; so while I agree with your being cautious to avoid getting hit from behind, by allegedly failing to yield to cross traffic, you put yourself in the same predicament that you were in coming down the off ramp.

Originally Posted by fishfood

I was using cruise control on the highway so when I entered the exit ramp I decelerated using this device.

I'm not sure how you can use "this device" (I assume you mean the "cruise control") to slow down and prepare to stop if need be...

Originally Posted by fishfood

This took place at night which could help/hurt my case, I'm not sure.

Assuming the officer had his car's headlights on, day/night is irrelevant.

Let me ask you this, how long have you been driving?